The Pride Drill is great for perfecting a team's transition defense. In addition to providing a key conditioning component, this
drill also allows teams to improve their fast break and rebounding skills, and is great for boosting team morale.
At one end of the court, divide the team into two (2) groups of five players, giving each group a ball.
Decide on a number that you want the team to reach in order to complete the drill (Example: 60 Prides).
On the Coach's whistle, one group is to run a fast break to the opposite end of the court and either immediately score a basket, run the offense, or run a specific offensive play.
After a basket is scored, all players in the group are to go to the hoop and continuously jump for the ball with their hands in the air. As they are jumping, one or more players must shoot the ball into the basket, making a total of four (4) offensive "put backs".
The last player (or coach) with the ball rolls it along the sideline, down the court, as the group sprints to the opposite end.
The next group now begins the drill, taking the ball to the opposite end of the court to score.
Each time a group runs the floor, award the team points (between 0 and 3) subjectively based on the following:
Execution
Hustle
Intensity
The drill repeats until the team reaches a specified number, as set by the Coach.
Teaching Tips:
Use the Pride drill to finish each practice instead of suicides or sprints to keep up player morale and momentum. Incorporate your team's offensive plays into the drill to reinforce lessons taught during practice.
As a team, aim to reach a certain number of "Prides" before dismissing players at the conclusion of practice.
I agree, any drill you can do with a ball is better than just running. The longer I coached the more I realized how important practice time is. We even cut out water breaks... IF the kids wanted water all they had to do was raise their hand and IF they weren't in the drill or one of the coaches wasn't talking or teaching... they could go.... saves you a lot of time.
We finished our practices with "situations" - they are fun for the kids and it is a great teaching tool. One other thing you might do is to shoot free throws after a running type drill... its more like a game situation.
I coach both boys and girls at a small private high school in Cochabamba Bolivia. This is avery good drill for end of practice, especially when they are tired. This is much better than laps which they were all running before at the end of practice Thanks
It''s good to see Coaches that are using the game skills to incorporate ways of getting to fitness levels. Years of watching coaches just running kids without the ball sent me crazy. Swap up your offenses and change them on the run while they are getting tired. It''s when their tired that you want them to execute!
It depends on your offense. You could run a group of 4, then a group of 5. The group of 5 could run a set play. The group of 4 could use motion principles.
Or you could run 3 groups of 3 using motion principles.
That looks like a fun drill to do at the end of a practice but they have ten players so they could run it continuously. I have 9 players and can't do that. Is there a variation to that play I could do with 9 players????
I like that drill a lot I cant wait to do it with my team. They recently complained about how we do too much running without a purpose. So now I have another way to get the conditioning in. right on
This is an excellent drill. I''''m in my 17th year of coaching and feeling a little burnt out and like I''''ve exhausted fun ways to keep my kids motivated. I like this drill and believe my kids will have fun with it. Thanks for being a great source.
Awesome, awesome, awesome! I was trying to figure this out from the video that was posted a few weeks ago to use at the end of my practices. So glad you drew it up here. Thanks.
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